The two Leeward islands of Antigua and Barbuda form a single nation state and offer attractive contrasts. Antigua is the largest of the Leewards, with a population of 67,000 living on its 108 square miles (279 sq km).
Just 28 miles or 45km to the north, 62 square mile (160 sq km) Barbuda has 1,500 people living in the island’s only town, Codrington, which is really a village. Together, the islands offer everything a holiday-maker could want.
Antigua has warm, steady winds, a complex coastline of safe harbors, and a protective, nearly unbroken wall of coral reef.
The Trade Winds that once blew British sailors safely into English Harbour now fuel one of the world’s foremost maritime events-Sailing Week. The expansive, winding coastline is where visitors encounter a tremendous wealth of secluded, powdery soft beaches. The coral reefs, once the bane of marauding enemy ships, now attract snorkellers and scuba divers from all over the world. And the fascinating island of Barbuda, once a scavenger’s paradise because so many ships wrecked on its reefs, is now home to one of the region’s most significant bird sanctuaries.
